


Sandcastle

by badend (cogito)



Category: Elsword (Video Game)
Genre: Gore, M/M, Modern AU sort of, Reincarnation, major character death but its backstory, major character death in final chapter, mentions of gore, tagged M for mentions of gore to be safe, vaguely italian setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:27:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24859909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cogito/pseuds/badend
Summary: The one where, Dreadlord is a florist in a small, seaside Italian town and Noblesse and her servant come for an extended stay.
Relationships: Ciel/Ciel (Elsword), DLRG
Kudos: 4





	1. Part I. Frogs in a Bucket

**Author's Note:**

> \- Tumblr Repost.  
> \- Originally posted May 4th, 2017.  
> \- **Collecting like "Frogs in a bucket"** refers to a task that is difficult to control or coordinate.

One summer afternoon, Dreadlord invites him out for tea.

Though Royal Guard would much rather brew his own, and surely his own would taste better than whatever swill Dreadlord thinks is good tea, the insistence on his part makes Royal Guard relent. He reaches forward for Royal Guard’s fingers, kisses each sensitive fingertip, and leads Royal Guard to a seaside café in Hamel.

Instead of tea, Dreadlord has coffee. The moment they find their table and sit down, Dreadlord has his vision fixated on the sea. The seagulls’ cries down out his thoughts like white noise, and he sits there staring at the beach and the seagulls that Royal Guard can’t help but feel a little bit jilted.

Dreadlord asks, “Was the tea nice?” when their date ends.

“Yes,” Royal Guard replies plainly. He doesn’t question Dreadlord’s distance. There must be something on his mind that he’ll share when he was ready. It’s enough for now that he’s noticed the way Dreadlord is more docile than usual.

“Dreadlor-“

“Let’s come back again.” Dreadlord interrupts him and deflects the question he could see forming on Royal Guard’s expression.

The invitation hangs in the air for a little while longer, and then Royal Guard smiles back somewhat nervously, “Right. Yes. Let’s come back again.”

They do not return to that café.

**Part I. Frogs in a Bucket**

He arrives in a seaside town with Noblesse on a crisp summer morning.

The sea’s breeze smells of salt, and the sound of Hamel’s noisy beaches surfaces in Royal Guard’s mind. The vendors on the streets hawk their wares, and Noblesse ducks her head into one of the confectionery stores lining the streets.

Standing underneath the striped awning of that store, he waits for Noblesse to emerge from the stand. She had not given him to follow or leave, and thus he would do neither.

From a small distance away, he hears two, familiar voices that he has not heard in a long time. A man and a young girl with tones that match that of his and his master. Royal Guard freezes in his spot, unable to jerk his head towards the direction of the voice, and unable to move.

What if–

The male speaks first. “You really should be more careful, Arch. The next time you let a seagull snatch your homework out of your hands, I’m going to let it get eaten.”

“Wah! Don’t do that! I don’t want to fail out of school! I’ll be more careful, promise!”

“You’re always saying that,” The male voice speaks with a lilting tone. Royal Guard hears him crinkling the sheet of paper in his hands. “But you always let it go flying anyway.”

“It’s not my fault the town is windy. I don’t get a choice!”

Their shoulders brush against one another and little more than fabric makes contact. Royal Guard is about to apologize when the man speaks first.

“Mi scusi, signore.” He offers quickly and then steps off to the side.

“Ah-” Royal Guard manages to say something, but it’s not enough. The man has already brushed past him. The girl mumbles softly about how fancy his clothes look and what nobles are doing in this tiny town with nothing in it. In response, the man shushes her and tells her to worry about her own grades before fantasizing about something else.

The girl is still looking at him, but once she notices his gaze focused on her, she quickly jerks her head away to her older companion, her pigtails bobbing along with them.

“Pick me up!” She demands, and Royal Guard watches the man do so, now noticing the streak of blue in his otherwise silver hair. Through the tears in the corners of his eyes, Royal Guard finds himself unable to scrutinize the man’s features clearly.

“Did you see something?” Noblesse’s voice snaps him out of his trance. The duo has disappeared at that point. Royal Guard quickly wipes his tears away on the back of his gloves and turns to face her. Her face just slightly knits together hints that he should find an explanation for his own pause and hesitation.

“Perhaps,” Royal Guard’s reply sounds hesitant. “But it does not matter. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I did.” Noblesse smiles, pinching between her fingers a confection Royal Guard recognizes as saltwater taffy. “Will you partake in them with me?

“Yes.” He replies, “If you’ll have me.”

The hotel they were staying at was a quaint little thing with only twenty or so rooms, but each room was delicately preserved from the nineteenth century. For Royal Guard and Noblesse, they fit into the scene and turned the whole room into a portrait.

“Royal Guard, please go ask them for a map of the sightseeing areas and the directions to the lighthouse.” Noblesse beckoned, and the two of them were off to see the large lighthouse that oversaw the rest of the town.

At the base of the tower, Noblesse asked, “Did Hamel ever have a lighthouse?”

Royal Guard falls silent, trying to remember. “At some point, it may have had-“

A blue streak of blue bobs and ebbs out of vision. He doesn’t realize he’s turned his head to look in that direction until Noblesse calls him to attention by name, and he turns his head back. She asks, very politely, if he’s feeling unwell.

“My apologies, I was distracted.”

“By?”

“I… I cannot remember. I don’t think I saw it properly.”

Noblesse folds her arms, unconvinced. Royal Guard’s gaze falls on the entrance of the lighthouse where people are lining up for the tour at the half-hour “We should go.” He suggests, desperate for a distraction, and Noblesse finally budges.

The lighthouse is less of a house and more of a tower. There are way too many damn stairs, the tour guide talks too much, but they climb the large central staircase and listen to the echo of their footsteps inside the building.

Seagull cries assault their ears the moment they step across that trapdoor. Bright sunlight shines down, and Royal Guard raises his hand to shield his eyes from the piercing light. Even as he squints, it’s obvious someone is already here.

A little girl’s squeals of delight, her voice louder than the seagulls in the immediate proximity. The wind blows her hair and clothes about, and she looks like she’s buried in that huge hood and huge sleeves of hers. The clouds billow over and cover the intensity of the sun, and Royal Guard finally opens his eyes.

They were supposed to be dead.

Chiliarch turns her head towards to Dreadlord, gazing at the boats in the horizon. He has one hand placed over Chiliarch’s. “Careful, don’t fall over.”

“You’ll catch me if I do. I’m not worried.” Chiliarch replies without hesitation.

Now noticing the new tour group has appeared, Dreadlord smirks at Royal Guard standing there dumb-folded with surprise. How could his smile be so true to life if Royal Guard wasn’t hallucinating? After everything, he had to have been hallucinating, Dreadlord and Chiliarch were supposed to be dead.

He turns his head to look at Noblesse. Like him, shock flooded her face and she stares at them with amazement and wonder. He looks back towards the two. Dreadlord’s smile has disappeared, but he’s still standing there with them, leaning against the railing of the lighthouse with the same expression he’s had for the past thousand years before his death.

This isn’t something out of Royal Guard’s dreams anymore.


	2. Part II. Head in the Sand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- originally posted June 10, 2017  
> \- **to have your head in the sand** means to refuse to think about unpleasant facts, although they will have an influence on your situation:

****

****

Part II. Head in the Sand

Dreadlord pulled away from the railing first with an expression like trying to remember something he had forgotten. For a moment, he focused, deep in thought, brows tightly knit together. When Royal Guard opened his mouth to try and remind him, Dreadlord shook his head.

“You’re the fancy duo Arch and I ran into the other day. Quite literally.” He extended a hand, “Sorry about that.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Royal Guard replied, hesitating over the hand, “It was an accident.”

Dreadlord simply shuts up.

The old Dreadlord would have chased the topic to the end of the earth and teased him for not being careful. Royal Guard had to remind himself, this was a new Dreadlord. The old one had died with the old world, and this new Dreadlord was as human as they were before the contract.

His hand was still awkwardly outstretched and waiting. But if Royal Guard shook that hand, would Dreadlord pull a weapon on him and stab him like he had once done before? It was so important for him to grasp the element of surprise, to the point where any kind of sincere gesture was almost always accompanied by the threat of violence.

There were moments where even his kindness was hard to read.

Enough deliberation. Royal Guard swallowed his fear and shook.

Well, he doesn’t get stabbed. 

“██████, it’s nice to meet you.”

Royal Guard stared in confusion before him. Noblesse cut in and prompted Royal Guard to let go.

“Noblesse, and this is my… partner.” Mentally, Royal Guard sighed of relief.

“Please tell us where the best sight-seeing places are in town.” She spoke quickly, just as eager to leave as Royal Guard.

“Ah, right. You guys are tourists. That’s why I haven’t seen you guys around before.” Dreadlord leaned back against the railing and yanked Chiliarch before she leaned too far over the edge and fell to her death against the rocks below.

“There’s a nice aquarium in the center of town. We’re pretty well known for it, actually.” He pointed to the building in the distance with a domed roof, “And-“

“There’s a really really really good café across from it, too!” Chiliarch cut in without warning, “They always give me free food when we visit!” Then she leaned into Noblesse’s face and gasped, “Oh my gosh, your eyes are so pretty!”

Too close. Noblesse stumbled several feet back until Royal Guard’s hand stopped her in front of the railing. She coughed and nodded towards Royal Guard. “Thank you for the hand.”

“There’s a several hundred-year tradition at the café, or so they claim,” Dreadlord laughed softly and changed the topic back. His tone is harmless, but a mischievous glint hung in his gaze, and Royal Guard didn’t have to guess to know that that look meant trouble.

Chiliarch returned to where she fits perfectly, by Dreadlord’s side. She seemed to have given up on trying to get under Noblesse’s skin for now, though she was still interested. With a twinkle in her eyes, she whispered under her breath, “Cosplayers? Performers? Who dresses like that, and like that…” She mimicked Noblesse’s horns, and Dreadlord shushed her. She pouted.

Dreadlord’s pocket buzzed, and he reached down to pull out his phone. After seeing the message on the phone, he only sighed and shoved it back in. “It’s that time already, huh? We’ll see you around again.”

“Mhm, there’s not much else to look at, anyway! Bye bye!” Chiliarch waved and hopped after Dreadlord as they went back down.

Royal Guard and Noblesse exchanged glances after being left behind.

“That’s them,” Noblesse stared at their disappearing figure, “They’re like ghosts, even when they’re supposed to be dead, they still won’t leave you alone.”

Despite their irritation in those words, Royal Guard found relief as well as warmth in her voice. He nodded in agreement, and when she decided to make her way downstairs, he followed.

Dreadlord had this way of making everything about him. It was like magic.

For several hundred years Royal Guard had been able to keep away from all thoughts of Dreadlord, and after one little interaction on that lighthouse, the only thing Royal Guard can think of is their relationship of give and take.

Even now, Royal Guard didn’t understand that man.

The sharks overhead drifted by lazily, and one made eye contact with Royal Guard, just enough to prompt him to pull himself out of his trance. Noblesse called his name at that moment.

She tugged on his sleeve eagerly and pointed to the various fish lying on top of or floating by the tube. When she pressed her face close to the glass, it overlapped with a hammerhead bumping noses with her.

Noblesse let out a girlish shriek, and then quickly backed away. Turning her head, she looked at Royal Guard like if he uttered a threat, she would kill him. He merely smiled back at her, undisturbed by her childish demeanor.

He had almost forgotten in the years they had been tied together, Lu was still a child in many ways. However more mature Noblesse was compared to the other Lus, and no matter how she forced herself to be mature and adult, five centimeters meant nothing. She was still allowed to be a child.

“I will change my form when it suits me to do so,” She said once, and Royal Guard did not comment.

“Ciel, Ciel!” He hadn’t heard that name in so long he almost forgot he had one, “Jellyfish!”

Indeed, sitting at the end of the walkway were several tanks of jellyfish. The largest among them ran ceiling to floor, and the whole room was illuminated by warm, neon lights. One second the jellyfish were pink, then another second later, they were orange and blue and yellow.

When she realized that pulling on his hand would not make him walk faster, she abandoned him to run up ahead.

She turned her back to him every so often, captivated by the jellyfish in each tank and wanting an explanation. Ciel glanced at the information board. Six species co-existed in that big tank, and several more floated about in the side tanks, but it was curious how despite sharing the same space, all of them kept to themselves without ever getting caught up in someone else’s tendrils.

Lu turned towards him again at the last tank and called his name again. Naturally, Ciel turned his head to look at her as well. The sight stunned him and his mouth went dry.

The rest of her body was still turned towards the glass, but she was smiling at him with a bright childish grin. All the lights in the room bounced off the curve of her cheek and caught her bright smile—a light in the darkness.

When did he last think about the way he had agreed to given up his human future for a chance to protect her, and for her to depend on him in return? Did the other Ciel, the one that returned to the demon realm to try and contend for the throne with his own raw power think about this?

More importantly, did Dreadlord think about this when—, no certainly not. If he did, he wouldn’t have—

“Ciel,” Noblesse called him, but the tender moment passed. She was the adult-like Noblesse again. “Can you eat jellyfish?” She trailed a jellyfish floating by with her finger.

“Perhaps, if you wish it. I will prepare it for you.”

She paused and for a second, looked like she was considering it, but shook her head at the end. “Maybe some other time.”

The two of them emerged from the dark cave of the aquarium and into the light of the sun again.

There was nothing to buy at the gift shop worth keeping. Who would they buy gifts for when all they had was the several boxes of luggage for their clothes and prized possessions?

“The café, then?”

Noblesse pouted but took the lead. “I hope we don’t run into them again.”

After a short walk along the main street, they came to the door of the café Chiliarch so eagerly recommended. Perhaps because it was a weekday afternoon, the café was empty save for a few booth seats.

They found an empty seat inside by the window facing the sea. From here, the sandy beach looked back at them.

“Two sugars, two creams.” Noblesse said, “Please excuse me.”

He knew her order by heart anyway. After she left, Royal Guard made his way to the counter to order.

Barely after he finished, someone tapped his shoulder. He swung his head in that direction and saw nothing, so he swung his head in the opposite direction as well. Again, he saw nothing.

“Over here,” The familiar voice called and Royal Guard found Dreadlord seated at what was his own seat a few minutes ago. A cup of coffee sat by his hand. His grin tore open an old wound long thought closed in Royal Guard’s chest.

“Noblesse- and.. Ciel.” The barista called and Royal Guard went to go grab the drinks. From the natural and confident way Dreadlord sat at the table, with one leg crossed and his other foot only touching the ground at the heel, Dreadlord looked like he didn’t just own the table, he owned the entire café.

“Ciel, huh?”

“Yes. That’s my name. Can I help you?”

“I should thank the barista,” Dreadlord laughed. The chair snapped back to the ground, and all four legs clack against the hardwood at once. “I forgot to ask you for your name at the lighthouse. I was kicking myself as soon as we left.”

Dreadlord’s gaze fell on the ocean, where seagulls were fighting for food scraps. It’s not a long stare, but the melancholy in his gaze choked the air out of Royal Guard’s windpipe.

“Have you lived in this town your entire life?” 

He hopes it doesn’t sound as fragmented as it did in his head.

“When Arch grows up, I might leave.” Dreadlord tore his eyes from the waves crashing against the shore and back on to Royal Guard—or rather, the bathrooms behind him. He picked up his coffee and bolted for the door.

In the direction of the washrooms, Noblesse’s pigtails bobbed up and down.

“Do I have something on my face?” She sat down, but noticed the strange look on Royal Guard’s face, “You’ve been staring at me for a while…”

Royal Guard reached over and smoothed a strand of hair that wasn’t even out of place. “Tea is here.”

She took a sip and her eyes went wide. “This tea is good! Dreadlord was right… As much as I hate to admit it.” Noblesse focused her attention on the cup again, trying to figure out each ingredient in the flavor.

Meanwhile, Royal Guard stared at the permanent marker scrawled on the paper cup, “Ciel.”

“Is there somewhere you’d like to go this afternoon before we head back to the inn?”

“Oh! There was his quaint little antiques shop on the way here…”

A letter was sitting on his desk at the inn when they returned.

Wrapped in a fancy ribbon and smelling of flowers, the envelope stared Royal Guard in the face. The calligraphy on the envelope looked more like Noblesse’s handiwork than anyone else’s, but Royal Guard knew better. Besides, when he was with her all the time, she didn’t have the time to do something he didn’t know about.

The calligraphy spelled out a simple four-letter word. “Ciel”. When he opened the envelope, careful not to break the seal, he was met with a single note that read “See you soon.”

All the colour drained from Royal Guard’s face. He picked up the envelope and quickly descended the flight of stairs to the receptionist’s desk. No return address was on it. “Do you remember who brought the letter?”

The receptionist shook her head, “I wasn’t on shift when it was delivered. I’m sorry, I don’t handle deliveries.” Then she smelled the flowers on the letter, and some sort of switch was turned on. “This smell… perhaps it is from the florist boy not too far from here…?”

“Can you give me directions?”

With the directions in hand, Royal Guard returned to his room and prepared to make a trip. He had his doubts, though, what was the point of playing detective and tracking down who would send a harmless letter to him? The calligraphy on the envelope was nice, he might decide to keep it for that reason alone.

The phones in his room went off simultaneously. It was a testament to the innkeeper’s resilience against time that they kept both a rotary phone and a regular phone in each of the rooms. Using either phone was no problem, but rather the notion that someone would call.

It was the front desk.

“A guest is here to see you. He says you’re aware of his arrival.”

“Ask him for his name.”

The receptionist gave it to Royal Guard and Royal Guard wished he heard wrong.

“Shall I send him up?”

“No, rather. I’ll come down and see him.”

Noblesse glanced up from her handiwork.

Royal Guard said, “I’m going to meet someone downstairs.”

“Be careful.”

Downstairs, to no one’s surprise, Dreadlord stood at the front desk with his hands in his pockets. When he saw Royal Guard, he stopped harassing the poor receptionist and turned to face him. His clothes were nicer than the plain white shirt he was wearing before– nice enough to go on a date.

“Are you following me?” Royal Guard asked, and Dreadlord shrugged in response.

“You’re not exactly hard to track.” He explained, “There’s not many high-profile tourists around, so when a few people do come by and you ask them where they’re staying… well, they’re probably here. This inn is exceptionally fancy. You guys have good taste.”

Royal Guard wanted to grimace but forced himself not to. “Anyway, I did tell you I was coming to see you soon, right?”

So it was just a matter of getting this over with. Whatever Dreadlord wanted to ask, Royal Guard would turn him down.

“Go out for coffee with me. My treat.”

Royal Guard almost said yes purely based on reflex. But on second thought, the tea could be poisoned, it could be laced with something bad, or something else could go wrong. Dreadlord’s newfound humanity made him less of a threat, but in a way accepting that going on a date with Dreadlord would not result in some sort of physical harm was a little hard to believe.

Dreadlord could put a knife through his hand and then he could lose an eye within a minute of each other. How is he supposed to overcome that on the actual date?

Of course, there was the benefit. Dreadlord’s humanity made it easy for Royal Guard to hurt or kill him if the need arose, but still, the past was enough deterrent.

“Is that a yes or a no?” He forgot Dreadlord was still waiting for an answer.

The thought of being able to talk to Dreadlord again proved the victor. “Okay, okay. I’ll go, when?”

“Tomorrow. Three PM, at the café. I’ll see you then.”

Noblesse took a nap at three pm every day. It would be easy to sneak out of the room and come back before her afternoon alarm.

His stomach churned in anticipation for tomorrow.

Back in his room, Royal guard thought of the time he had watched Dreadlord die at his hands.

Dreadlord died once before.

He had no pulse, his breath had stopped, and the overwhelming presence he was in had completely disappeared. But two minutes later, Chiliarch’s contract sparked something, and then he was living, even though he was sitting in a pool of his own blood.

Dreadlord’s bedroom smelled of blood for the week after that. The blood that sunk into the floorboards was, for once, Dreadlord’s instead of his.

In a fit of anger and hungry for vengeance, he fired two shots into Dreadlord’s knees to force him to the ground. Then a few more into Dreadlord’s stomach, but he was still laughing, and his voice haunted and shook his core.

So The last bullet had to be carved into Dreadlord‘s throat.

Royal Guard heard him gasping for air and reaching for a knife.

It was supposed to feel sweet when he got revenge, but it felt like overwhelming guilt instead. He wanted to put Dreadlord in the same position that Dreadlord had put him in all this time, and found nothing of the satisfaction he wanted in it. Instead, Dreadlord was dying by the second.

If it was him in that position, would he have had the guts to plunge the blade into his own throat to carve out the bullets that constricted his windpipe?

Next, the bullets came out and clinked like pearls in a bowl, and seeing the mess Dreadlord was in, and how he had put Dreadlord in that state, Royal Guard couldn’t hold the contents of his stomach anymore.

Dreadlord stopped breathing, and Royal Guard panicked, tugging at his clothes and begging, “Please don’t die, please don’t die, please don’t die-“

Those two minutes in-between felt longer than his entire life.

A single hand, stained with blood, pat him on the head a few times. Royal Guard rubbed his eyes and wiped his tears on his sleeves. Dreadlord was smiling through the overwhelming pain.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” He said, and then passed out again.

When he woke up, the two of them took care of the situation as they did usually: They pretended it didn’t happen.

Were it not for Noblesse’s beckoning, Royal Guard might have started crying.


	3. Part III. Put to Bed With a Shovel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- originally posted July 21st, 2017.  
> \- **to put to bed with a shovel** means to have someone killed and alludes to the act of burial.  
> \- the character death in this chapter leads into the reincarnation.

**Part III. Put to Bed With a Shovel**

Tomorrow came as yesterday did, and Noblesse took her afternoon nap as she did everyday at 2:30. Unlike yesterday, Royal Guard slipped out for the cafe as soon as he saw the soft rise and fall of her chest.

He arrived ten minutes early, but Dreadlord had promised to treat him so he couldn’t order a drink yet. What would he do then? He found an empty seat and waited.

Dreadlord’s blue streak appeared in the window, and shortly after, the door to the cafe jingled. Royal Guard gave him a nervous smile he tried to pass off as less nervous than intended. Dreadlord wore a confident one in return.

“Sorry, did I make you wait?” Dreadlord ran a hand through his hair. When was the last time he combed that thing? It was quite a mess, and it could hardly be called hair.

“I just arrived, actually.” Royal Guard offered him a comb from his bag, and Dreadlord pocketed it with a promise to comb it later.

“Did you order already?” Instead of going back to Royal Guard’s seat, Dreadlord led him to the table they were sitting at yesterday.

“Not yet.”

“Oh, good. I’ll go right now. What can I get you?”

Royal Guard glanced at the menu, "Black tea, one cream.”

“‘Kay, be back soon.”

Royal Guard sat down at the table and glanced out into the ocean.

Of course, Dreadlord would invite a stranger out for tea. As long as he was interested and could get what he wanted out of it, Dreadlord would do anything.

“Here. Earth to Ciel, Earth to Ciel.” Dreadlord slid the cup under his chin, and the scent made Royal Guard snap back to reality. He tore his gaze away from the ocean, though somewhat reluctant to do so.

Royal Guard stared at the cup on the table and after a moment, accepted it. “Thank you. Why did you look for me?”

Although he knew what the old Dreadlord would say, he didn’t know about this new Dreadlord. He could see the words forming, 'Because I was interested in you’.

The one before him seemed to think about it, and finally settled on, “Because you seem like you’d be interesting. It’s not everyday fancy visitors come to this town. I’ve said that before though, right?”

He did say that before.

“Do you track down everyone you find interesting?”

The Dreadlord in his mind: I don’t find many people interesting.

The Dreadlord standing before him echoed those sentiments. “There’s not much to be interested in here.” As he said this, he leaned into his palm and stared at Royal Guard.

“Why invite me then? What do you find interesting about me?“

"I wanted to talk. Someone like you must have interesting stories. They don’t have to be good stories or anything, but I was curious about you.” Dreadlord’s gaze had fallen on his the cup on the table, running his finger over his name scrawled in permanent marker, “I’ve never left this town, so… let me live your lives just a little too. I want to see the world outside.”

Royal Guard couldn’t come up with an answer. Since the original’s death, the house felt awful without Dreadlord’s skulking shadow, and Chiliarch hollering at the top of her lungs. So, they had been traveling, never staying in one place for too long. There was no reason to.

Even if he could show Dreadlord the world outside, where does one begin to summarize the few hundred years between the original’s death and the present?

This Dreadlord seemed so young and so inexperienced. Compared to his older counterpart, there was no gritty look in his eyes. Honestly, Royal Guard felt a bit guilty, knowing what the other had been like but being unable to tell him.

“How old are you?” Royal Guard didn’t mean for the question to slip out.

Dreadlord gave him a stare that he couldn’t read, “How old do you think I look?”

“Twenty….three?”

A smile curled onto Dreadlord’s lips, “Close. I’m 24, actually. How old are you, Ciel?

"Twenty-seven.” Give or take a thousand or so?

Still, twenty-four was older than expected. Without the contract, he thought Dreadlord not much older than a young adult.

“Twenty-seven and rich as hell, it must be nice.” Dreadlord sighed and took a sip of his coffee.

“It’s not-?

"Just kidding, you’re more like… her partner in crime, right?”

Desperate to change the topic, Royal Guard shook his head, “You wanted to hear about the outside world, right? Would you like to hear about my adventures?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, of course!”

The stories Royal Guard tell capture Dreadlord’s attention, he wore a look on his face that must have matched the look on the first human’s face when he discovered fire. He was a child in a candy shop.

But the end of the hour approached, and at three-thirty Royal Guard rose from his seat. “Thank you for the tea and the chat.”

“It was lovely. I’ll be here tomorrow if you want to come by again.” Dreadlord wore his million-dollar smile, “Think about it and let me know, okay?”

He made no promise of it when he left the cafe and hurried back to the Inn. Noblesse would be awake and be wanting her afternoon tea.

“Come back tomorrow,” was what Dreadlord meant. In truth, Royal Guard wanted to be able to not go back and not feel guilty for it, but when it was Dreadlord, he would feel guilty if he didn’t go back. Noblesse wouldn’t banter with him, and even if this one was younger, the schematics of what he could become were still obvious.

The day after, Royal Guard went back to the cafe. Dreadlord had commandeered a seat already, and when Royal Guard stepped through the door, he abandoned it to usher him to sit down. While Dreadlord went to get their drinks, Royal Guard stared out at the ebb and flow of the sea.

Was this the same ocean they saw in Hamel when Elrios still existed and was this the same ocean that surrounded their trips around the world? Why did Dreadlord look so melancholic whenever he saw it? Royal Guard saw no sadness in it.

His questions would have to be answered later because Dreadlord returned to the table and handed him a few napkins.

It was the polite little things like that which made Royal Guard’s chest ache badly. Such polite little things here reminded him that it wasn’t just Dreadlord being polite, but rather a stranger took his place.

“Ciel,” Royal Guard glanced across the table at the mention of his name. “Are you one of them fancy battle butlers?”

“Why the battle?”

“You just seem like you could kill a man and not feel bad about it.”

Not amused, Royal Guard asked, “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a florist, though it wouldn’t be my first choice.”

“Then, what would be your first choice?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never given it much thought.” He laughed, “Maybe a hitman?”

Ironic, Royal Guard fell silent and sipped at his tea.

“But you are a butler, though? You didn’t deny it when I asked.”

“I keep her affairs in order, so you could say I fill the functions that a butler is expected to fulfill.”

“I didn’t think they existed anymore,” Dreadlord stared into his coffee cup, “Are you two on a vacation?”

“Of sorts, we wanted to get away.”

The old Dreadlord would have pressed the question. “From what?” He could hear it in his head now. On the other hand, the Dreadlord in front of him simply let it go and it fell into silence. Desperate to bring some conversation back into the silence, Royal Guard asked, “Who is the little girl that you’re always with?”

“… A child my parents adopted before they died.” Dreadlord smiled, “I always wanted to be a cool big brother and have a little sister, but she doesn’t feel just like a sister. Like a soulmate?”

“A.. soulmate?”

“Oh, that sounds creepy, doesn’t it?” He laughed, and ran a hand through his hair, “I meant that we were destined to meet. Does that make sense?”

God must be laughing at him right now. Even if he wasn’t the old Dreadlord, he was Dreadlord all the same. Royal Guard swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to say something. Nothing came out.

“I know it sounds weird, you don’t’ have to stare at me like that.”

“No, it’s… I understand. I feel the same way about my master.”

“Your parents adopted her before they died, too?”

Royal Guard stared at him, and Dreadlord laughed again. His laugh sounded so good and natural, Royal Guard wondered how long it had been,

“You don’t have to get so mad,”

He wasn’t sure if he was glad Dreadlord was still as infuriating as before his death. It was a bit of both, in the end.

Dreadlord asked questions that were easily answered. Should be he thankful that Dreadlord wasn’t Dreadlord enough to see through his lies? Royal Guard noticed a nervousness about him. He hesitated on words the old Dreadlord would have said without reservation. The most private thoughts he had, he saved for himself in a more obvious manner than he did before he died. Wasn’t that the result of being human?

The alarm goes off, and Royal Guard bade him farewell. Dreadlord doesn’t keep him, instead, he looks up from his table and said sadly, “I wish you’d stay longer.”

The only thing he could do, Royal Guard supposed, would have to wait for the shell to come off.

“I’ll try to stay for longer next time.”

“Nah, it’s okay. Whatever’s good for you is good for me. I’m glad you made the effort to come.”

He passed by a small girl on his way out. Her eyes lit up as they passed each other, she gasped, and immediately threw her bag into Dreadlord’s lap. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dreadlord lovingly ruffle her hair. His chest tightened.

“Isn’t that the guy with the girl that has the really pretty eyes?” Chiliarch asked. Royal Guard heard her over the people talking in the cafe.

“Yeah,”

“What’s he doing here? Did you stalk him?”

“Don’t say that. He came of his own volition.”

“I don’t know what volley-shun means!”

Dreadlord’s laugh rang in his ears again and tinged his ears red, and he could see Chiliarch puffing her cheeks out in indignation without even looking at them. There was no reason for him to be here any longer. He walked back as fast as he could.

A week of visits later, and one day Noblesse chose not to take her midday nap.

It surprised him. She was a creature of habit as much as anyone else, and she hated having to disturb her routine for other things. He didn’t ask her why. She simply said she wasn’t going to take a nap that day.

“Why don’t we go to the aquarium again today, and for a walk, as well? It’s quite nice out.” She said, even though the sun was beating down on the earth and he could see heat waves coming off the ground.

Still, without a second thought, Royal Guard agreed. Dreadlord could wait a day for him, couldn’t he? They weren’t dating. Royal Guard didn’t owe him anything. But then again, it’s not like they were dating in the old world, either.

The aquarium was empty in the middle of the afternoon, probably because of the heat. Despite the weather, Noblesse had not complained at all.

Even the sharks felt the heat because they weren’t nearly as active as they were the last time. They drifted by but paid very little attention to their surroundings. Noblesse wasn’t watching them, either.

When the end of the tunnel came, they stood in front of the ceiling-tall jellyfish tank again. Noblesse had her back towards him and she asked, “Where are you going during my naps?”

“Come again?”

“I know you’re leaving to go somewhere during my naps. I won’t force you to tell me, but I’d like to know where you’re going.”

Of course she knew. Why should he have expected her to be as asleep as he thought she was?

“I’m meeting someone. To talk.” Royal Guard said.

Noblesse pauses, and then spoke somewhat sadly, “Dreadlord?”

“Ah,” She saw through him like he as clear as glass.

“It’s okay if you’re seeing him. I know he must have come for you.” Noblesse placed a hand on the cold tank, “But you should be more careful. We won’t be here forever, and I think you should decide what you want to do before we leave.”

Finally, she turned towards him and warned him with a serious expression, “You should tell him about us. About you guys. He deserves to know what we are.”

“Right,” Royal Guard wanted to sigh of relief but found nothing relieving in those words. He thought about them, of course, on his way to and back from the cafe. When he had thought about bringing up their past, he could never say anything.

“Let’s go back,” Noblesse said again, “There’s nothing to look at today. Even the clams are sleeping.”

The evening is uneventful, but Royal Guard doesn’t mind. He puts Noblesse to bed and slips into bed himself.

That night Royal Guard finds himself in the smoke scented room Dreadlord once occupied in the now-demolished mansion.

His lighter sits on his nightstand. His pillows and blankets are in their usual places as Royal Guard left them that morning. Everything seems to be where they should be, except for the man that owned the room.

Royal Guard shook his head. He was dreaming again. Maybe it wasn’t a surprise since he had Dreadlord on the mind before he slept.

Speaking of Dreadlord, where was he? If he was not in his room, there aren’t many places in the mansion where he could be. Though reluctant, Royal Guard opens the door of the smoky room and walks through the familiar halls he once called home.

He was used to Chiliarch’s screeching echoing through the halls. The halls are silent today, and it freaks him out of a little bit to hear the house so silent.

He stops in the grand hall and gazes down below at the ballroom. Though they had this mansion for so many years, he could count the number of times they used the ballroom on one hand.

Noblesse’s portrait hung from the gap between the staircase. Surprise colours his face a ghastly pale when he descends the stairs and stares at the large portrait. A large slash ran diagonally across the canvas and the guts and frames of leaked through.

The atmosphere of the house changed with that discovery. Panic began to flood into his veins. Where are the others? He could hardly be alone in this house without knowing.

Heavy breathing started behind him and followed him like he was being chased. Quickly, Royal Guard found the hall that led to his room and shut himself in. The panting behind him stopped, but only because Royal Guard found the source.

Dreadlord sat on the wall with his back to the wall. His hand was clutching his chest, and his face was twisted in tremendous pain. When the door opened, he lifted his head in Royal Guard’s direction. “Hey,” He said, like this was a situation that could be explained by a simple hey.

“You’re-”

“I’m fine, thanks.” Dreadlord replied, “… is what I’d like to say, but as you can tell…”

“What did you-”

“Shut up for like, two seconds.” He shushed, “Don’t freak out and chill.”

Royal Guard reached out and gripped Dreadlord’s shoulder. “You’re shaking, really bad…”

Without waiting for Royal Guard, Dreadlord, explained, “I broke the contract.”

“What did you do?!”

“Chiliarch is dead, I had to…” He opened, and then shook his head, “Nevermind, take care of yourself, okay?”

Dreadlord wore a smile, but the pain mars the tranquility and sincerity behind the words. He grumbled with his belt and coat, trying to find something. Royal Guard remembered this scene hundreds of years ago, but last time, it was a little different.

“Here,” Dreadlord motioned for Royal Guard’s hands, and when Royal Guard thrust his hand forward, Dreadlord pressed a small pistol into them. Royal Guard’s blood went cold. Shaking and trembling, Dreadlord reluctantly let go. His grip lingers, but he finally pulled away in the end.

“Do I have to beg?” Dreadlord laughed sarcastically despite his pain.

When the gym passed into his grip, Royal Guard resisted the urge to press it to his own temple. When you die in a dream, you wake up, but if he died in this memory, Dreadlord would not come back to life.

“It can’t be that hard, can it? You've done it-We've done it before.” Dreadlord reached forwards again and closed his hands around Royal Guard’s trembling. They were both shaking now, it’s hard to say who’s shaking is worse. “It hurts, Royal Guard, _please_.” It was the first time he has ever heard Dreadlord beg so sincerely.

The gun went off, and Royal Guard woke in a cold sweat. Two words were lopped off in the dream, and in the memory, Dreadlord had quietly apologized underneath his breath and Royal Guard pretended he didn’t hear it.

Now awake, Royal Guard was still shaking. There was one thing that the memory had missed though, and it’s hard to say he’s thankful, but he’s vaguely thankful of it. Last time, he watched Dreadlord kill himself, and he wasn’t sure if he was happier that he had the chance to do it himself.

When Noblesse wakes up a few minutes later, Royal Guard has the tea brewing. They eat breakfast and go down to the beach to make sandcastles. No matter who big they build their castle, the sea washes them into the ebb and flow of eternity.

In the afternoon, the sun hung high in the sky. Noblesse crawled into bed for a midday nap, so Royal Guard went to see Dreadlord at the cafe alive and well. He was marking a stack of papers and reading them over, He saw Royal Guard standing by the door, and quickly waved him over.

“I missed you yesterday,” Dreadlord said,

“It’s only been a day.”

“What, I can’t miss you?”

“It’s just a bit weird to be missed after a day.” Royal Guard admitted but sat down anyway. Dreadlord shoved all the paperwork somewhere else and the two of them settled into their weekly routine about life beyond this small village that might have been as much of a cage as it was a nest.

Noblesse’s words at the aquarium echo in his head. They were cryptic as much as they were ominous. 

What did Noblesse mean by that? He didn’t know, but that night he did sleep a little more tenuously than usual.


	4. Part IV: Water under the Bridge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- originally posted September 16, 2017  
> \- **Water under the Bridge** is used to refer to events or situations that are in the past and consequently no longer to be regarded as important or as a source of concern.

**Part IV: Water under the Bridge**

One day, in the midst of a conversation about death and dying, something prompted Dreadlord to ask about Royal Guard’s relationships. Caught off guard and struck by tenderness for a moment, Royal Guard let it slip that once upon a time, his closest friend had died.

Dreadlord fell silent. Maybe it was a bit too much, but Royal Guard gave him what he wanted. Even if he regretted it, he couldn’t take it back. For a good minute and a half, neither of them spoke. “Did he-” it was awkward, Dreadlord tested the waters.

“I killed him, “Royal Guard lied, “I think he would have suffered more if I didn’t.”

“A mercy kill.”

“There was nothing merciful about it.”

“Suicide is scary,” Dreadlord said replied, “You did him a favour.”

The idea of Dreadlord being scared of suicide made him want to laugh.

“No, no way.”

“Just because he didn’t seem like he was capable of it, it doesn’t mean he wasn’t scared of it when it happened.”

It shook him. Royal Guard felt it rattling inside his skill, but he tried not to think about what other things Dreadlord was hiding behind that brave front of his.

They talked about nothing for a little while longer and then went their separate ways with the promise to come back tomorrow.

By now, he had been in this town for two months. Two months was long enough for it to feel like home. There was something in those dates that made them feel like he always belonged.

He left for the cafe with Noblesse aware of the situation. Even though she didn’t approve, in the end, all she gave him were her disapproving glances. She did not command him to stay for the afternoons when she took a nap, so Royal Guard left the inn each afternoon with his conscious both guilty and not.

The cafe was at its usual capacity when he left for it this afternoon, but Dreadlord was not in his usual seat. He thought perhaps, Dreadlord was running late and wished he had a phone to check.

By the time Royal Guard sought to find his usual seat and wait for Dreadlord there, it was already taken. He found an empty seat and sat down there instead, waiting for Dreadlord with both his hands knit together.

Ten minutes passed, and no Dreadlord turned up. It was work keeping him, Royal Guard thought. It was his fault for not having a phone, the least he could do was wait for Dreadlord a little bit longer. Then twenty minutes had passed, and Royal Guard was getting a little antsy. Sure, he had no engagement, but it was a little awkward to sit there and wait for someone without ordering a drink or any indication that you intended to order one. Maybe he could ask the cafe to call the flower shop, or would it disturb Dreadlord at work?

He stood up to leave, but the bell on top of the door jingled. Chiliarch barreled throughout of breath. She searched with a frenzy, and he could see the impatience and worry in her expression. She locked eyes with him, and her shoulders fell slightly. Then she ran over and gripped both his gloved hands, yanking them towards the door, “You have to come quick, it’s-”

She didn’t have to finish. They were already out the door.

When they found him, he was in an alley with three men lying on the floor.

Though his knuckles were split and blood was slowly dripping from them onto the ground, he did not appear injured otherwise. Chiliarch sensed something because she was apprehensively hiding behind him, and it took Royal Guard a moment to realize why.

He didn’t look like himself. There was no witty sarcastic comment that could come out of that Dreadlord. Instead, the cloud that fell over him was someone Royal Guard knew very well. It was the assassin that had given up his life for his liege, both of whom had been dead for a long time. Chiliarch pulled on his clothes again, fearfully shrinking back from what should have been her most trusted protector.

Royal Guard recognized him, of course, from the shiv in his hand to looking like he just hadn’t had enough. The men were already incapacitated, but he was still hungry.

“Dreadlord!”

The single word was enough. Recognition flooded into his expression and the cloud seemed to waver. He blinked several times, dropped the shiv, and walked away from the sight before him. Though he still looked dazed, at least he did not look like he wanted to kill anyone that got in his way.

Royal Guard gripped his arm and squeezed down. “Dreadlord, damn it, Dreadlord. Look at me!”

Dreadlord obeyed, and Royal Guard saw the stars in his eyes. He glanced quickly down at Chiliarch below, and she merely had innocent, if not fear clouded, blue eyes. Why would she have her demon eyes? Then again, why did Dreadlord?

“Royal Guard,” Dreadlord rasped, enough for him to hear the words, but then the demon cloud completely receded, and he was human again. He looked confused for a few seconds, but before he had a chance to react, Chiliarch barreled into his arms. There was the sound of glass shattering in his ears but from where? He didn’t know.

Dreadlord pat Chiliarch on the head, careful of his bloody knuckles, and while she cried, he took the opportunity to look around at the mess he made for himself. Instead of panicking, he just mumbled a characteristic, “Well, shit.”

Just like that, Royal Guard was smiling again. He tried his best not to, but it was hard to resist.

Seeing him smile was enough, Chiliarch started crying. “You idiot, you jerk!” Her cries were muffled by the fabric of Dreadlord’s clothes, he wasn’t sure what he could do besides pat her on the head and let her cry out.

He smiled at Royal Guard apologetically, and Royal Guard fished around for a handkerchief to dry Chiliarch’s tears. She blew her nose in it in a dramatic fashion and then started hitting him where her tiny arms could read. “You biiig, huuuuuuge jerk! You’re the worst!”

“Whoa, Whoa, let’s calm down first and ta-”

“I will not calm down! You’re terrible! You’re the worst!” She sniffled again. Royal Guard tried not to laugh at the spectacle.

“You’re not making any sense, what’s wrong?” Dreadlord frowned.

“You, _you you you you_ , I thought I lost you! You looked like you really wanted to kill them! That you could actually-” Chiliarch hiccuped.

She burst into tears again, and Dreadlord waited for her to finish with a comforting pat on the back. Slowly, he calmed, and when she wasn’t sniffling anymore, he said,“Let’s go back to the candy shop.”

“Mmm, only if you let me get some jelly beans,” she said with a stuffy nose.

“You can have as many as you’d like.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

She looked at Royal Guard as if concluding a pact, “He promised.”

Royal Guard smiled back, “He did.”

He thought that they would let him go, but they didn’t. Specifically, Chiliarch refused, she pulled on his hand with one, and on Dreadlord’s with the other. Then the three of them tried to make it through the narrow boardwalk in a row.

Dreadlord’s split knuckles were on plain display, and Royal Guard reminded himself to get them patched up. He was pretending they didn’t hurt, but they had to. There should have been some kind of medical supply shop along the boardwalk.

It took them until they were actually on the boardwalk for Royal Guard to realized he and Noblesse entered the town on this path. That day, she requested to buy some taffy, and Chiliarch looked like she was headed there right now for jelly beans.

“You looked really scary, I didn’t even recognize you,” she said, “I don’t want to see you like that ever again.”

“It won’t happen again, promise. Anyway, what made you go get hi,?” Dreadlord asked, awkwardly trying to shove his knuckles into pants without hurting himself more.

“You go to that cafe every day so I thought, maybe if I go your date would be there to come help me!”

“Smart girl,”

She beamed up at him, “He calmed you down, and it worked so never do it again.”

“I won’t, I won’t. Didn’t you hear me promise.”

Royal Guard’s hands were clammy underneath his gloves. He thought about how Dreadlord had so easily lost control, and he himself couldn’t tell the reason. But in that moment, he recognized the Dreadlord from his past. Though to have it happen now, when he was sure the old world was gone, what could have caused it?

But they passed by the pharmacy just then, so he pushed his thoughts aside for now.

“Please excuse me for a second,”

“Everything alright?” Dreadlord asked.

“Yes, I will rejoin you in a moment.”

“Alright, we’ll be at the candy place, so just meet us there and don’t get lost, hopefully.”

Royal Guard ignored that last comment.

He joined them maybe fifteen minutes later and found Dreadlord leaned against the fence. He was staring into the waves of the sea, and a cigarette idly burned in his hand. There was melancholy on his face again. Something about the ocean just captured him. No Chiliarch was in sight. The candy store was behind them.

Dreadlord saw him emerge and waved, Royal Guard joined him. Dreadlord stared down at the cigarette, shook his head, and snuffed it out in the sand. “How bad do I look, be honest.”

“A bit,”

“I thought I said be honest.”

“I am being honest,” He sighed, “Aside from your hands you don’t look that bad.”

“Really? I still look good?”

Royal Guard stared at him, and Dreadlord laughed and turned over his palms to look at his knuckles. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to lose control. I don’t know what happened. Were you scared?”

Honestly? He didn’t know the answer to that himself.

“We could… talk about it,”

Dreadlord shook his head.

“I can’t remember much anyway. Uh, just stay for a bit, okay? I’m still trying to process what happened. It must have been pretty bad to walk into that. So let me just try to make sense of what happened with what I can remember.”

“I’ll stay. Give me your hand.”

“Thanks.”

Royal Guard tried to look at how torn up they were and motioned for the public fountain not even a hundred meters away. Then Royal Guard dressed Dredlord’s wounds. He tried not to smile when he watched Dreadlord squirm and write. .

“Hold still.”

“I’m trying! It hurts like hell! Hurry up!”

“I’m almost done, just hold still for another minute!”

When they finished, Dreadlord patted his back pocket for a cigarette. After a moment, he shook his head and decided against it.

“You smoke?” Royal Guard asked.

“I picked it up recently, I know it’s bad but it helps with the dreams.” Dreadlord sighed, “You saw what happened back there. I don’t think I could make it out without a cigarette.”

 _Dreams._ “I see. I understand.”

If there was supposed to be another conversation, it didn’t happen. Chiliarch emerged from the candy store with two armfuls of jelly beans. He thought he heard Dreadlord sigh. The look on Dreadlord’s face- Royal Guard wasn’t sure how to describe what he just saw.

“Let’s go home! Help me carry these.” She shoved the two jars into Dreadlord’s arms, and then sniffled, “You smell.”

“Okay, okay.”

“When did you get bandages?” Then her gaze fell on Royal Guard, and then back to Dreadlord.

Dreadlord changed the topic without acknowledging her question. “You should come over for dinner, as thanks.” Still, he picked up the jelly beans from Chiliarch, and tried to balance two huge jars underneath his arms. “When I said you could have many, I didn’t mean bankrupt us!”

She ignored him.

Royal Guard thought about Noblesse. Leaving her to eat dinner alone would be too cruel, so he shook his head.

Dreadlord must have read his mind, “Well, if you change your mind, bring your friend over for dinner, okay? The inn’s food isn’t bad, but it’s not the same when you’re eating with friends. We live above the flower shop, there’s only two in town so just tell the innkeeper you’re looking for me, and they’ll point you in the right direction.”

“Bye-bye Ciel!” Chiliarch called, “See you soon, okay?”

“Yeah. See you soon.”

On the way back to the inn, the sun was beginning to set.

He was late, and Noblesse would be upset with him. There was nothing ‘formal’ about when he had to return for tea, but still, the guilt in his stomach told him everything about this moment. The walk to the room was alright, but when he stopped in front of the door to knock, he couldn’t do it.

He gathered his courage, raised his hand, and Noblesse opened the door for him. She just shook her head, stepped aside, and went to sit in her chair by the window.

Somehow that made it worse? He wasn’t sure. “I-”

From there, she also stared at the ocean. There was something in her expression that looked like Dreadlord’, and just as hard to read. What was that melancholy supposed to mean?

“I’ll go put on the tea.”

“Don’t bother,” Noblesse cut him off, and Royal Guard confusedly stared at her. If not tea, when what did she want him to do? If he had no orders, then should he tidy? Fix the bed-

“Did you tell him?” She cut off him again, interrupting his thoughts with invasive questions.

“Tell him what?”

Noblesse turned away from the window to face him. The sunlight caught the curve of her cheek, and it shined brighter than the rest of her face in the shadow. “Tell him about you two.”

“If you haven’t,” she saw him hesitate, “You… no. Nevermind. I thought this would happen but I’m not here to lecture you. But demons affect others around them, and if something happened to him, it wouldn’t be good. I just want you to be prepared.” she leaned into her cheek, “Be the adult you’re supposed to be.”

Royal Guard didn’t move, and Noblesse said, “I’d like to have some tea, please.”

He obeyed.

She didn’t ask where he went, and why he was late. That was what bothered him most of all. Although it was now quickly approaching evening, they were still having afternoon tea as per their daily routine. This scene was too jarring. It just didn’t make sense.

“I’m just worried about you.” She admitted, “I’m not saying you can’t have fun, but you might be too much for him right now. If you don’t… I’m pulling us out of this town before it kills you or him.”

The teapot in his hand trembled slightly, but Noblesse went back to staring at the ocean. He decided to make dinner with the ingredients in the fridge and tried to pretend he wasn’t thinking about what Dreadlord was making for dinner.

Before long, Noblesse fell asleep. He wished her sweet dreams and left the room, closing the door softly behind him and waited for the latch to click.

He couldn’t be in that room for much longer, even though he had nowhere else to go. A quick walk around the inn, then maybe he would wander into town. When every store closed at 7, it would be a quiet walk with the night sky and his thoughts alone.

But when he made his way onto the beach, Dreadlord appeared in the corner of his eyes. Chiliarch wasn’t with him, and Royal Guard figured it must have been she was busy sleeping. Their eyes locked, and Dreadlord jogged over to meet him.

“Whoa, good timing.”

“Yeah.”

“Out for a walk this late? The weather’s pretty good.”

Royal Guard couldn’t tell if he was sarcastic or not. “You’re out too.”

“After a meal, it’s nice to get some air and clear your head. Did you eat?”

He nodded.

Dreadlord frowned, “Did something happen?”

Royal Guard smiled thinly, “Well, what do you think?

“You look terrible?”

Royal Guard wanted to slap him.

“I’m all ears, seriously. If you want it to be private, we can talk here or back at the flower shop. It’s a pretty quiet neighbourhood.”

“But-”

“She’s asleep now. You should come. I’ll make tea..”

Maybe he was making a mistake, but maybe a mistake was what he needed to clear his head.

“Alright,” Royal Guard relented,” Alright.”

The smile that Dreadlord had, nothing good could come of it, but if Dreadlord said it with a little more urgency than usual, how was he supposed to resist?


	5. Part V. Hell or High Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Originally posted September 15th, 2017.  
> \- **Come Hell or High Water** means that you are determined to do what you set out to do, despite any difficulties you may encounter along the way.  
> \- Content Warning: Gore mentions

**Part V: Hell or High Water**

The inside of Dreadlord’s home smelled like gingerbread. Girlish decorations were taped to the windows and fridge, along with some pictures of monsters and dinosaurs. The paper snowflakes have turned yellow, crinkling with age.

The furniture was old, but the smell of gingerbread dwarfed and potential smell. The stairs leading up to the flat ached with creaks, but they weren’t as loud as his heartbeat. Dreadlord led him to the kitchen, where he turned on the tap to fill the water boiler.

“It’s not much, Sorry, but it’s pretty comfortable and easy.”

“You think this is too small?” It was more than enough for two people.

“I meant, we don’t have much furniture. It’s not much to look at.”

Royal Guard took a look around, “It could be worse.”

“Wait till you see the bedroom,” He said with a wink, Royal Guard opened his mouth to protest, but Dreadlord’s laugh silenced him.

“So, what’s eating at you?”

Royal Guard felt his voice leave his throat. “Where would I even begin?”

“Try at the beginning”

Royal Guard gave Dreadlord a thin smile. Where would the beginning even be?

“Okay,” He said after some thought, “I might be leaving this town soon.”

He heard Dreadlord mumble something under his breath. This wasn’t a surprise to him at all. Had Dreadlord thought about it before? He must have, if he looked like that.

Instead of saying anything, Dreadlord simply pushed a cup of tea his way. It smelled like Ceylon.

“Lu wants us to leave, so I-.”

Dreadlord pulled the chair out across from him and took a seat. He knit his hands together and stared into Royal Guard’s eyes, and Royal Guard caught himself stuttering on the last word.

He changed the topic without warning. “What happened in that alley today? You called me ‘Dreadlord.’”

“That’s…”

“you know what happened today, didn’t you?”

“I can… hazard a guess.”

“I want you to tell me what happened.”

Royal Guard couldn’t find the courage to look into Dreadlord’s eyes again. Instead, he stared at his reflection in the warm tea and trailed the porcelain handle with his finger, “That was my friend’s name.”

“The one you mercy-killed.”

Royal Guard nodded.

“Did he look like me?”

“A bit,”

“Hm,” Dreadlord looked like he was seriously thinking about something, “Anything else?”

“No, nothing else. At that moment you looked more like him than usual. That’s all.”

“Alright,” Dreadlord replied and stood up to make himself a cup of tea as well.

Silence fell in the kitchen, but it couldn’t be called awkward. Despite how weird it felt, it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was odd for Dreadlord to maintain this silence. Maybe it was the night, and everybody was more vulnerable to their thoughts like this, even Dreadlord.

“Listen-” they both spoke at the same time.

“there’s something I need to say,” Dreadlord spoke first, “If you’re leaving, I need to tell you something in case you never come back.”

“I… as well.”

“Do you want to Rock Paper Scissors for it?”

“You can go first,” Royal Guard conceded, and Dreadlord nodded rather seriously.

“I’ve seen… I guess it’s you. I’ve been seeing you in my dreams, but only they go by Royal Guard, even if they look almost exactly like you. The dreams feel so real I almost think they’re memories. Seeing you when I wake up doesn’t help, and sometimes I feel like I’m dreaming even when I’m awake.”

Royal Guard’s breath hitches.

“So… I guess you could say you’re on my mind so much that I even dream about you…..” Dreadlord’s cheeks were luminescent underneath the light,”Er, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m in love with you? Is that weird? I’m sorry-”

“It’s not weird,” Royal Guard reassured him. His reflection the teacup was rather melancholic. He should have been happy. He knew he should have been happy, but he didn’t want it to end like this. Dreadlord falling in love with him again meant bad things and only bad things.

Royal Guard forced a smile that doesn’t quite reach the corners of his lips.

“I don’t want to go without telling you that, but how you want to respond is your business. If you’re not- I’ll. Yeah. It’s fine. What do you want to say?”

“It’s… a bit irrelevant to what you just said, but I’ll think about it.”

“That’s fine. Take your time. I don’t expect you to respond right away.”

“Thank you. If you had a past that you knew nothing about, but others did, would you want to be told about it?

Dreadlord thought about it for a few seconds and then nodded, “Yeah. Absolutely.”

“If this was a truth that you would be better off not knowing about?”

“Ciel.”

“I didn’t think you’d change your mind,” Royal Guard took a deep breath, “I warned you.”

“Try me.”

After gathering his wits about him, Royal Guard tried to tell their history, “You’re human now, but you didn’t use to be. A while ago, maybe before this town even existed. You weren’t human, but-”

“I was something like you.”

His blood went cold in his veins. “What-”

Dreadlord gave him an apologetic smile, “I should have told you I suspected that you weren’t human. Is that rude of me to not tell you?”

“No, not at all, but, when…”

“You and the girl… both of you are too old to be human, like me or Arch You two act like the world just passes by you without moving along with it. You’re timeless.”

“That’s…”

Dreadlord urged him back on to the main topic.

“When we did when we weren’t humans… I didn’t want to dig that up again.”

“What ‘I did to you.’” Dreadlord reached for Royal Guard’s hands across the table, and Royal Guard despite his mind screaming at him not to, let him take his hands in his own. There was no threat of violence, he told himself, despite the aura in the room changing, despite the words Dreadlord was saying.

Those were real words coming out of his lips, right? He was hearing the Dreadlord that was human, not the Dreadlord from so many years ago?

Despite saying those things, Dreadlord did not apologize.

“I won’t apologize for something ‘I’ did,” Dreadlord squeezed, “something who, a thousand years ago, did that with you.”

Royal Guard couldn’t respond. He didn’t know how to.

“Just like how you didn’t apologize for lying to me about the mercy kill I granted myself.”

The words that were coming out of Dreadlord’s mouth made Royal Guard shiver. The tiny gingerbread room smelled like the blood and gore that leaked into the floorboards of their bedroom. Royal Guard shook but did not pull his hands away.

“I just said that I had dreams, right? That these dreams are so real that they’re more like memories, and then what you just said.”

“You…” Royal Guard’s hand went limp.

“If I told you I dreamed about ripping open my own vocal cords because you put bullets in my throat, would you have agreed to anything again?”

“Dreadlord, seriously.”

“It doesn’t change my feelings about you, Ciel or Royal Guard, or whatever you want to be called,” Dreadlord kissed his fingers, “If you were going to hurt me, you would have hurt me a long time ago. You had plenty of chances, but you said no every time.”

Despite being told all this, despite having seen those horrible images of a ‘him’ that wasn’t him, how could Dreadlord not be scared? How could his hands still stay so stable?

“How long? How long have you known we weren’t human?”

“Since the conversation about soul mates we had. Something in your eyes changed.” He paused to think, “They twinkled, almost.”

Why did Dreadlord have to be so goddamn observant?

“And the dreams?”

“A little bit before you told me your ‘friend’, er… ‘I’ died.”

“Did you think I was too cruel?” Dreadlord asked, sounding surprisingly remorseful.

“Exceedingly so, but you aren’t completely irredeemable. We… given the circumstances, I did not think of you as cruel or kind. I did not understand you…”

Royal Guard glanced into Dreadlord’s eyes,” and I don’t misunderstand you now either.”

Dreadlord smiled, “I don’t understand either. How much of me is him, and how much of me is me? But I understand that if nothing else, I love you, and it won’t change.”

Royal Guard was thankful Dreadlord did not pressure him for a response, because he didn’t know he could respond. Could those feelings of dependence, need, and shame be trusted wholeheartedly? He didn’t want to tear open that wound again.

“Did he, also…” Royal Guard asked.

“Very much so. I’ll say what he couldn’t say for him, ‘I love you.’”

Royal Guard didn’t know what kind of face he was making. Dreadlord’s was smiling, but his eyes were the look he got when he looked into the beach, distant and unreadable.

“When are you leaving?”

“Soon. I’ll let you know as soon as we decide.”

“I’ll come see you off.”

“I’d like that, thank you.”

Dreadlord released his hands, and Royal Guard nervously rubbed his wrists, “Are you sure you wouldn’t-”

“Ask me when we meet again.” Dreadlord laughed and, for the first time in a thousand years, leaned across the table to give Royal Guard a kiss, “I’ll be waiting. Don’t let me die an old man.”

The day he and Noblesse left the small coast-side town, the skies were clear. The slight breeze blew Noblesse’s sunhat about, and her pigtails flew in the wind. The taste of sea was in the air, and the seagulls cawed overhead. Were it not for the red and yellow leaves dancing in the wind, one might have thought it was a cold summer day.

He escorted Noblesse into the taxi and took one last look at the town beside him. The screaming of a girl, not a seagull, filled his ears. “That’s my homework! I need to turn that in tomorrow! Give it back!”

Besides her, Dreadlord came into view. They were chasing down Chiliarch’s homework that was flying down the boardwalk in the mouth of a seagull.

Dreadlord’s eyes met Royal Guard’s and Royal Guard felt his cheeks light up. In return, Dreadlord gave him a smile, and Royal Guard did his best to smile back.

He would come back, Dreadlord was waiting.

Noblesse snapped her fingers, “If we wait any longer, we’ll miss the ferry.”

“Yes, I’m sorry,” Royal Guard said, wiping the smile from his lips. He could see the waves of the beach from the corner of his eyes, “I’m ready, let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> > so that’s the end of sandcastles, but also the end of the rgmm au that got out of hand. how that i think about it, wow it really did come from an rgmm au that my friend wanted, and now it spawned its own cycle……. you know what i’ll just call it the cycles au (as in life cycles) bc theres a lot of stuff here lmao.
>> 
>> but at this point i’m done with sandcastles! i hope you enjoyed your read an everything felt like it ended where it should. from here… hm, I do have a few ideas, but as for exactly what, I won’t tell!
>> 
>> there’s also a short bonus coming soon that will cap off the cycles AU for real. keep your eyes out for it!
>> 
>> i know i havent updated much at all in these past couple of months, but thank you for reading and supporting me! it really does mean a lot to me that you guys are still here even when i’m too busy to post. 
>> 
>> thank you again!
>> 
>> rib
>> 
>> 22 november 2017.
> 
> What is a sandcastle against the ocean's eternity?
> 
> [look at Dez's wonderful art.](https://dezimaton.tumblr.com/post/168917937685/holds-bad-end-hand-merry-chrismass%22)
> 
> As usual, I can be found on Tumblr at [badend](https://bad-end.tumblr.com/)


	6. EX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several centuries into eternity later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Originally posted December 3rd, 2017

Dreadlord asks him out for tea one summer afternoon.

Though Royal Guard would much rather brew his own, Dreadlord is insistent. He kisses Royal Guard’s wrists, and when Royal guard finally, finally relents, Dreadlord leads him to a little café in a town by the sea where the seagulls are always chirping.

At their insistence, Noblesse called them a carriage, and then she left them to their own business, wishing no part in it.

They sit in their usual seat by the window, overlooking the sea. The seagulls have gathered at the sandy beach as they do every day. When Royal Guard looks at the door, he half expects Chiliarch to burst through it calling their name.

He catches Dreadlord doing the same.

“do you miss this town?” He asks in response to the look on Dreadlord’s face.

“At times,” Dreadlord takes a sip of his drink. When did he-

Hurriedly, Royal Guard orders his own drink.

Two steaming hot drinks sit on the table by their hands. The two of them stare at the tide of the ocean and the ebb and flow of the waves. The waves drown out their worrisome thoughts with white noise and silence falls upon them but this is the furthest thing from uncomfortable.

Dreadlord tucks his hands under the table and reaches for Royal Guard’s hands. Their fingers lock, and when they hold hands, he can see the smile threatening to poke through Dreadlord’s smirk.

He peeks over at the drink in DReadlord’s cup and to his shock, finds out that Dreadlord isn’t drinking coffee. In all his years, from their first meeting till now, he’s never seen DReadlord drink anything but his usual coffee in this cafe.

With this scent, it’s definitely some sort of tea. Dreadlord doesn’t make any indication that he minds the chance, but the change makes Royal Guard a little bit apprehensive, though the change wasn’t always bad.

Dreadlord asks when their date ends, “Was the tea good as always?”

“It was.”

“Let’s come back again.”

“Yes, let’s come back again.”

in their eternity together, they go back to that café many times, sitting in that window seat with their hands knit together and their warm drinks on the table in comfortable silence.

In the distance, a storm brews.


	7. EX-II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH**
> 
> \- Originally posted April 13, 2017 so you could argue this ficlet spawned all of Sandcastle, as a whole.

Noblesse’s corpse lies face-up the floor in a puddle of her own blood that seeps into her pristine snow white hair and porcelain skin. Royal Guard is ashamed that it took him this long to realize blue-blooded demons bleed red like humans do. All this time he thought her blood was as royal as her demeanor.

The chains around his shoulder fall to his wrists with clinks and clanks and jingling because no one exists to tether them anymore. The loyal dog without a master sits on his knees, staring at his former master, reaching out for her bloodstained hand, clutching the ribbon she had given him before she submitted to her fate.

It was for his sake. Were neither of them poised to survive such an encounter, Noblesse wouldn’t have relented. It’s his fault. The tears won’t stop pouring from his cheeks, and the ribbon, still stained with her blood, feels like it would float away if he didn’t hold on tight enough.

He messed up. He was the one who killed her.

The bullets in her heart and forehead might as well have been his.

A moment later, the barrel of a gun is pressed to her forehead, digging into her flesh as if it would uncover some dirty secret. With a sarcastic whistle, the bullet leaves the chamber and enters her skull. The sound echoes in Royal Guard’s head, magnifying itself into something he keeps replaying over and over until it rattles his soul.

There’s nothing left in that carcass that could be called Noblesse anymore.

His chains are being pulled on by someone else, tethered to another master who doesn’t even ask for permission to share his soul. The other yanks him to his feet, but his feet refuse to move and his body is still trying to adjust to the new energy that surges into him. The raw power that he drowns in is familiar but uncomfortable in a completely different way. It’s his, but it’s _his_.

It’s violent, this contract, tearing into him and his humanity and feeding on his reluctance and restraint. It is hellfire, it burns with an intensity that etches marks into the human container. It is unnatural, this horrid curse that makes him want to carve his mortal shell off his skeleton in an attempt to escape. The chains keep him here, bound by the hand that keeps him grounded, a victim of a newer, crueler master.

Tears still welling up in the corner of his eyes, he looks up at Dreadlord just in time to watch the last streak of blue leave his hair. The two demonic horns that are gathering around his crown have not yet become solid, but just the faintest outlines of blue have settled around them as an imminent sign. The pristine white of his hair now matches Noblesse’s bloodstained strands on the floor.

There’s nothing human about Dreadlord anymore.

Dreadlord coos with the barrel of a gun underneath Royal Guard’s chin, “You belong to me now.”

Royal Guard averts his eyes, “I don’t want you.”

The gun digs into his throat, and Royal Guard feels himself gag when Dreadlord wedges it a little too roughly against his windpipe. “If dogs don’t get to choose their masters, why should you?”

Whether he chokes on his tears or because he simply can’t breathe, Royal Guard doesn’t know, because Dreadlord has his arm tightly gripped against Royal Guard’s arm, digging his nails into the sleeve. The gun at hand is quickly dismissed, and Dreadlord kisses him in a cruel mockery of the typical contract with a demon.

But Dreadlord’s hunger carves marks into his soul, and Royal Guard feels himself fraying.


End file.
